Father who rubbed hot sauce daughter’s eyes sentenced to 30 months in prison

Shawn Michael Foltz, 32, from Moorhead was given 30 months in jail after pleading guilty to 3rd Degree Assault of a victim under four

A Minnesota man accused of rubbing hot sauce in his two-month-old daughter’s eyes was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Wednesday.

Shawn Michael Foltz, 32, from Moorhead originally pleaded guilty to 3rd Degree Assault of a victim under four following his arrest in June.

Court documents show that Foltz had repeatedly inflicted abuse on his young daughter, which included rubbing hot sauce and cayenne pepper in his daughter’s mouth, nose and eyes, and blocking her airway until she turned blue, according to WDAY.

Foltz also admitted to throwing fireworks at the infant’s face.

‘I felt like I did not know the man I was married to,’ Belinda Bailer, Foltz’s ex-wife, said during the hearing.

The convicted child abuser will get credit for already serving 429 days and is required to spend at least 20 months in prison.

The convicted child abuser will get credit for already serving 429 days in Clay County Jail (pictured) and is required to spend at least 20 months in prison

When the baby was taken to the emergency room on May 30, doctors at the Essentia Health emergency room. found the girl with bruises over both eyes, red marks on her back and a bruise on her shoulder.

At the time, Bailer told doctors the girl and her three-year-old brother had been left in their father’s care that evening.

Foltz had told the mother that the girl’s injuries were caused when her brother hit her with a toy gun. Foltz said that he placed the blame primarily on his son’s shoulder’s because he was afraid his wife would leave him if she discovered the truth.

The father admitted to police during questioning that he caused the injuries by snapping the girl in the face with a towel and used a wooden spoon and piece of vinyl flooring to hit her on her bottom.

He also said he was frustrated with the baby crying. He later admitted that while at work, he would think of new methods of torturing his defenseless daughter.

‘There’s no sentence that can undo the damage inflicted on your daughter,’ Judge Gustafson told Bailer during the hearing.

In addition to the prison time, Foltz is required to pay more than $6000 in restitution.